this is me

I don't really "get" Facebook.  I love coffee.  I'm not a morning person although I do try a lot harder than I used to.  I swear I'm solar powered because when the sun is shining I get motivated and write extensive to-do lists and have the energy to tackle them.  If I'm not smiling my face looks mad even though I'm not.  When I concentrate really hard I chew the inside of my lip.  I love to be home.  I always have the best intentions but have a very tough time finding the time to get things done.  My children are my world.  I love to read.  We haven't really been on vacation since our honeymoon 11 years ago.  I love my job, but would really love to be able to stay home full time.  I don't like to hurt people and I don't like to be hurt.  I'm sensitive.  I'm hard to get to know.  If you want me to be "real" there must be trust.  If you loose my trust it's hard to win it back.  I only like to spend my downtime with people who I can have fun with.  I respect hard work.  I don't have patience for people who don't try.  I could eat my weight in chocolate {probably more actually}.  I hate feet...except for my children's.  I love a good, hot bath.  I L-O-V-E to organize, but my home isn't as organized as I'd like it.  I love Twilight.  I'm not particularly fond of Celine Dion.  I don't like dishonesty.  I'm scared about the future.  I like gold stars.  I appreciate teachers, a lot.  If I could, I'd have 5 kids.  I love dogs but am not too fond of cats.  I believe you're never too old to learn.  I hope I'm not finished growing.  I enjoy writing.  I have too many grey hairs.  I have a cabinet full of pictures and thousands of pictures on my computer, but have never made one scrapbook.  My heart aches for the moments that have flown by way too fast.  I blog to capture moments.  My best friend lives in Tennessee.  I believe it's better to have quality friendships vs. quantity friendships.  I collect quotes.  I talk on the phone too much.   I love deeply.  I've lost.  I'm here.  This is me.

Jamie, one of my favorite photogs, took this photo.  I didn't buy this digital print, which is why it says Boomberry Photography on it :).  Maybe it'll get her some business!

not much...but something

Here I sit at 9am in front of my computer with all sorts of thoughts swirling around my head.  Lots and lots of post material, only the kind that I should leave in the "edit" stage never to see the actual pages of my blog...

I didn't grocery shop on Sunday.  Couldn't make myself go.  I was visiting with my sister-in-law and, darn it, I didn't want to quit!  I reasoned to myself that I had scheduled a day off {today} and I would go while Colin and Ty were in school.  Then Colin got sick.  Poor kid, high fever and headache...his sweet little rosy cheeks and droopy eyes...

Anyways...isn't that how life is?  Nothing good comes from procrastination!

New topic.

New topic being that I have nothing to blog about.  Do you ever get really discouraged?  Like when you really put yourself out there and the result is less than you hoped for?

The best I have to offer today is not much...just...today, if you're out and about, smile at a stranger...say hello.

That smile...that hello...well, it may just turn someones day around.  It may just make them feel noticed...like they matter...like they exist.  We all need a little smile sometimes, a "shout out"...

If you knew you could make that kind of a difference to someones day, wouldn't you do it?

Virtual Valentines S.W.A.K.

I just finished helping my Colin make his valentine mailbox.  Remember those?  Oh...so.much.fun!

I want to make one for me!

I want to sort through a box of little love notes ...all the cute, little rhymes and happy well wishes...kids have it so great don't they?...sigh...

Here's to  Valentine's Day!  Sending love to all my readers...you are in a very small but very important 
{to me} group!  Thanks for stopping by!

And...

To my BFF {visit her blog here}:
So many of my smiles begin with you!  Happy Heart Day!


To my first true blog buddy {visit her blog here}:
Happy Valentine's Day
{and now I'm going to say something that will make you feel ecstatic}
You have a chocolate deficiency :)  -- (virtual Hershey kiss to you!!!)

hi there

Just a quick hello!  I cannot seem to pull myself away from our newly turned one-year-old...could be the double ear infection...

Also all the prep for Valentine's Day, and both Ty and Colin's birthdays coming up, has left me feeling a bit overwhelmed and at a complete loss of creativity for my little blog {whose birthday is also this month...2 years!}...

Hopefully I'll be able to relieve my brain of some hyperactivity long enough to write something...until then have a fun Friday and restful weekend...

 Was this not just yesterday?  {sigh...}

You've filled my life with such joy...Happy 1st Birthday Eden Arabella!

things that make you say hmmm, some favorites, and a little help

I've had a couple of productive days...snow days, in fact.  Thank goodness for snow days... I mean, for a working Mom having a couple of days at home is helpful...except for the kids being home from school...

And, thank goodness for birthday parties... because without them I might never get motivated to clean places like the top of my fridge.  Which brings me to this...


Things that make you go hmmm....
This is my fridge after I used 1/4 of a bottle of Mrs. Meyers cleaning it.  This is the way my husband wants our fridge to look all the time.  {Sorry, I don't have a before picture} You can imagine with 3 kids what it looked like before, I'm sure.  Pictures, notes, homework, magnets, etc...the way I think it should look.  This looks sterile.  Remember, Chris wants it like this...

however, this pile of stuff that he crammed on top of the fridge...well, that doesn't bother him at all.  Hmmmm...

And please tell me who {probably a man} decided that we need no-slip surface handles on the fridge?  Hmmm...  
It took a whole lotta elbow grease to scrub the dirt and grime that only two little boys and a grown man can cram into all those little bumps and grooves...gross!

Let's move on, shall we?

Some {February} favorites...

bubble baths

yummy, burst-of-sunshine clementines

my snugly bed {Eden likes it too}

homemade Valentines {the BEST!}

and last...

A little help...

My decorating is much like my wardrobe...I can get the basics, it's the accessories I have trouble with.  So, I tend to be safe and boring.  Our hallway here needs to be painted to match the walls in the foreground.  I've had the first picture hanging there for a long time, but I love the Mark Rothko...it's obviously bigger...I cannot decide which I prefer there...after hanging the Rothko there for a while the first almost seems too small... 


Help, please... this will require comments people :)!!!

look what I made!

So this may not be very exciting...but, I am thrilled with myself!  {Sarah...you may find this particularly funny given my normal aversion to these...}

So, this adorable headband was a pipe dream for me 24 hrs. ago.  I found it at fabflowerheadbands.etsy.com and immediately ordered it for Eden's 1st birthday.  Thank goodness that the woman who makes these is totally cool, because I got an e-mail right away explaining that she has a turn around time of 6-7 days and since she lives in California I'd have to rush it and also ship it 2-3 day delivery making a $9.75 headband $19.75... {if only I'd taken 5 minutes to read the small print}

I was crushed.  The totally cool woman let me cancel my order.  I went to bed sad/mad...sad because how cute is that headband? and mad because I've kinda procrastinated this whole birthday thing...last baby and all...

Then I decided I just might be able to make one.  Probably not as cute, but close.  And guess what?  I did!  It turned out pretty good...I think I'm going to tea-stain the band so it's not so stark.  My picture STINKS...blurry, thanks to low light {hate my flash...way too bright!} and a little, busy-body baby!

I think faced with the alternative of no adorable flower headband, this one will do in a pinch.  And it cost me $5.00 to make...not too shabby!

{A must have I think} Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts

I am, after all, a big, fat sap. I chocked back tears as I watched this. I'm going to buy this book...for sure!

for my dad

Short, sweet, and to the point....

Dad, I love you!  Thanks for always supporting me, and for making comments on my blog because you know how happy comments make me.  You're the best!  I'm so lucky to have you as my Dad...

Ah-Ha moment...or maybe more like a DUH moment

We've entered the world of homework.  Well, not just...we've had homework all year, of course, but it hasn't been until just recently that homework has become...well, a lot of work.

Colin was uber excited to have homework.  Couldn't wait.  The first sheet came home September 1st with instructions to complete at least 3 of the weekly assignments each week to be returned October 1st.  Colin wanted to turn it in the next day.  {He's nothing if not impatient.}  The monthly homework assignments are meant to be habit forming...to get the students used to nightly homework.  It's all fairly simple.  Write 5 words ending in -ing, do 10 sit-ups, go to the library and check out 3 books, read someone a story... et cetera.  Of course the assignments have gotten a bit more challenging as the year has progressed...not to mention lost appeal to my once eager student.

I hated math growing up.  H.A.T.E.D. it.  Was horrible at it.  I would have rather put my hand in a running blender than sit and work on math homework.  Colin loves math.  Colin loves to read.  Colin hates to write.  He has a tough time with spelling so naturally does not have fun to sitting down to write.  Who wants to do something that makes you feel stupid?  Not me...blender, remember?

So, homework has become a bit of a problem.  For one, I have required that Colin do all 5 weekly assignments, not just 3, because somehow any activities requiring writing were being left unfinished.  For two, we got a Wii for Christmas, and who has time for homework when there is Lego Star wars to be played?  So, the writing assignments began a new level of stress.  And I found myself becoming a human dictionary...how do you spell parade?  how do you spell library?  how do you spell place?  These are words that he should be able to spell...at least attempt to spell, himself.


Now, to defend myself a bit, I'm pretty frazzled most days.  I've got balls in the air all over the place.  And, apparently, have lost a great deal of common sense.  Enter my mother...Gigi...experienced and armed with the BEST answer to my {our} problem:

Tonight Colin had an assignment to write a story about a snowman and read it to someone.  Not one tear.  Not one eye rolled.  Not one "it's not fair!".  He wrote the story.


                                  He was given the power to do it himself.  And he succeeded.

Thanks Gigi!

This post is way overdue.

I have to admit that in the 11{almost 12} years that Chris and I have been married, I've probably been way too stingy with praise when it comes to him.  Especially since the kids have come into our lives.
As Moms, I think that sometimes we get so wrapped up in caring for our kids that we forget the one who made our family possible in the first place.  {See what I did there?  I grouped all Moms together so that I could make a blanket observation, therefore removing some of my guilt by implying that we all do it.  Clever, I know...}

So...here goes my long overdue "husband gush"...

I'm not sure how I managed to marry a guy who so easily transitioned into a family man.  He truly loves his family.  I should have guessed, he's so generous of spirit that it's almost to a fault...almost.  He's always been the first guy to step up and help a friend or family member in need with absolutely no strings attached.

He can completely transform attic space to an extra room...I mean cut an actual hole in a roof and build a room.  Himself.  Well, with some help, but mostly himself.  I'm talking wiring, drywall, trim, window install...you name it.  When I think of the thousands of dollars we've saved remodeling this money pit...well, it's mind-boggling...truly.  And, I know that he hates to do a lot of it, but he does it anyway...for his family.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, he also cooks.  Now, he would say that 90% of the time he cooks. I would say that although he cooks often, 90% may be a bit of an exaggeration.  Regardless, do you know what a gift that is?  When I feel as if cooking dinner might be the end of me, he's generally more than happy to jump in.  He not only cooks, but he enjoys cooking...and he's good at it.  I'm a follow the directions kind of gal...boring, I know, I'm working on it.  Chris will throw a few extra ingredients in something and most of the time it works...not only works but improves it.  And, I'm not talking about frozen dinners and hamburger helper...real honest-to-goodness meals.

But, he is by far the best at being a Dad...and that's saying a lot with all of his skills.  He's always pitched in and helped...diapers and all.  He's even been known to wake up in the middle of the night {although middle-of-the-night parenting isn't his strongest parenting skill}.  He may not be perfect, none of us are, but he's present and loving and there is no doubt how much he loves our kids.

with Colin

with baby {sniff, sniff} Ty

again with Colin...

and Ty

fishing with the boys {Colin in picture}

with Eden {aka Daddy's girl}

Sometimes I complain that he does a little too much of this...

and maybe he does, but...in the end I love him.  And he's allowed a few faults, after all.

*disclaimer: as I mentioned above...he is not perfect, as none of us are... he would be wise to remember   

  this on occasion, and not let this post go to his head :)